Real Alchemy

Nicholas Culpepper's, “Compleat Herbal,”

come. He suffers as the essences are teased and tortured from the substance, and he is elated when the hidden spark of truth brings the dead matter back to life on a new level of being.

Admittedly, this is a strange way of looking at laboratory work in a materialistic, industrialized world, and there are many prejudices the modern mind must overcome to accept the possibility that alchemy is real. Yet perhaps, after reading this book with a free heart and open mind, you might find an ancient voice speaking to you through the drone of appliances, engines, and commercial broadcasts that make up our environment. The voice will whisper: But have you tried it?

No alchemist in history ever thought the Secret Art was solely a mental discipline. The work of transformation takes place in the real world. Yet alchemy is not chemistry. Chemistry is a superficial science that deals only with the external forms in which the elements manifest. A chemist seeks to rearrange atoms and molecules to exhibit different properties of the same dead material. An alchemist seeks to create an entirely new substance by exposing its essences, bringing them alive, and causing them to grow.

When an alchemist performs a laboratory experiment, it is the culmination of careful planning to find the right timing and personal purification to create the sacred space in which the transformation can take place. The alchemist becomes an ingredient in his own experiment, and his intention and passion contribute to the out

Please, know that these practices and materials are very real, and there is risk in this work, just as in chemistry. But with the necessary precautions, for those who do venture forth, there is real wisdom to be found. When this practice is joined with the intent to heal or something positive, things happen.

Start slowly and mindfully, put consistent effort behind the work and go through a few of the processes at a time. The basics are here, but reach into the primary sources from which these practices come and read them against your own practice and results. Dig into it, ask questions of the matter at hand, investigate it and not timidly. Soon you will clearly see that it is not a metaphor for something else, but rather that alchemy is fundamentally about transmutation in the physical world—of change from poison to medicine, from sickness to health, poverty to wealth, and ignorance to wisdom.

Alchemy is said to be physical or spiritual—but the fact is, it is both. It has not always been practiced as both. There have been alchemists who dispensed with the “superstitions” of magic squares, planetary rulerships, etc. to focus on their dialog with matter. And there were others who have focused on the uplift of their soul, leaving behind the dross of alembics, retorts and furnaces. Each aspect is like seeing with one eye, each correct and accurate on its own. But yet, there is more. We have all seen 3D viewers that take two photographs, each offset by a bit that when viewed, pop into three dimensions. The split between the physical and spiritual interpretations of alchemy are like this: each photograph is accurate and complete and can stand on its own, as can each interpretation of alchemy. But it is when we put them together that the almost magical experience of three dimensions occurs, something more than each eye alone could imagine. Is this what the alchemists thought? Not in all cases, but alchemy is the richest when it is seen with both eyes.

These days the word Alchemy is lumped together with psychic phenomena